


A sandy day

by Lavawing45



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Headcanon Autistic Character, I know, Meltdown, Non canon autistic character, One Shot, Overstimulation, Post-Canon, Projection Character, Sand is the trigger here, Sensory Overload, Sibling Love, Stimming, sand, sounds dumb.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28374324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavawing45/pseuds/Lavawing45
Summary: Ford and Stan are happy, docked at some beach in the middle of nowhere, when Ford begins to have a meltdown from the texture of the sand. Btw the inspiration mainly got me thinking about sand texture, and then Autistic Ford entered the equation, but thank you SpyroForLife for starting that thinking process!
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	A sandy day

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Beach Bums](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8002282) by [SpyroForLife](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpyroForLife/pseuds/SpyroForLife). 



"Well Stan, here we are! A random beach in the middle of nowhere, just like you asked."

"Its perfect Ford. Just the thing I need after the Arctic's freezing cold. My back has gotten bad yah know."

"Yes I know Stan, now then, shall we go swimming?"

"Why the hell not, lets go. Race you into the water!"

They were having a wonderful time, but eventually they got tired, settling down on the sand to relax. For awhile, the sand's texture was bearable, but as he got more and more uncomfortable, he felt the telltale signs of a meltdown coming. There was a few people here now, which he didn't expect, and god there's just so much noise. Kids, birds, the waves, the grit of the sand. Suddenly its too much, and he's rocking and his hands are pressed hard against his ears and its not enough, the sound still unbearably loud, gritting on his ears like nails on a chalk board.He know he's crying, but the noise is too much, and so he lets Stan be the responsible person for once. 

"Ford? Are you okay? Ford? Fordsy?! Come on dude please talk to me, tell me whats wrong?"

All Ford could manage to say was that its too loud, and Stan managed to take him to the boat, basically having to drag him there. 

"Fordsy please, whats wrong?"

Ford wants to reply, but he can't, too focused on rocking back and forth, hands still tight over his ears. 

"Oh Fordsy. Was it something I did? Please whatever I did Ford I won't do it again, just please tell me whats wrong."

Suddenly Ford thinks of something but, that would mean taking his hands off his ears, can he do that? Or will it be too much? Deciding he has to let Stan know whats wrong, he begins to walk towards his bag, still manging to sway with each step he takes. Ah yes there they are, an ancient pack of non verbal word cards, something he hasn't had to use in a very long time, but still there for the rare times like these.

Flipping through the words he found what he needed. "Too loud, overwhelming, need sand off, help please." Laying these out in front of Stan, he goes back to rocking with his ears covered.

"Okay, lets first try and find those muffling ears I've seen you wear, alright? Is it okay if I go leave to find those?" Ford simply nodded yes in response. "Okay I'll be right back."

When Stan returned, Ford was still rocking, but his hands did seem to be a bit looser around his head.

"I've brought those ear muffs Ford." Ford looked up at Stan slowly, before grabbing them and placing them on his ears, within seconds Stan saw Ford relax.

"Is that better Ford?" "Nod" "Thats good, im glad they help. Now then, lets try and get you in the shower, im sure that sand is still bothering you, huh?" Ford simply nodded again. "Alright then, up we go" Stan pulls Ford up by his hands, and leads him toward the shower, he had a slight fear of seeing Ford naked, but he knew that Ford wouldn't be able to do much still. He vaguely remembers this happening once after school, except then Ford didn't let Stan help him, and he just cried himself to exhaustion.

Its not as hard as Stan thought it would be, Ford's only wearing swim bottoms, and those come off easy. Stan leads Ford into the shower, hoping he can bathe himself, but it quickly comes apparent that Ford is just too out of it to help much, and so Stan takes a washcloth, dancing soapy water over Ford's skin, cleaning off the sand in places it got stuck, and soon Ford is sand free. Stan pulls Ford out of the shower, wrapping him in a soft fluffy towel. "C'mon Ford, lets go sit down now." Stan leads Ford to the couch, deciding to wait till Ford can dress himself. Once they've settled, Ford is clearly more comfortable, flapping his hands lightly from side to side. Stan remembers yet another memory of Ford doing this when he was younger, his hands doing little rocking motions when he did something correctly, or flapping them about when he was excited. Yet he never saw this except for the privacy of their bedroom. One day Stan asked him about it, and Ford just shrugged before going back to his studies. Stan remembers looking it up, and his mind helpfuly gives him the term used to describe the motions. Stimming, that's what Ford is doing, he's stimming.

A short while later Ford seems to resurface from his sand induced meltdown, and immediately bolts to his side of the cabin, changing quickly back into his usual getup of a soft fuzzy sweater and beige trenchcoat.

"Nice to see your feelin better Ford, had me worried for awhile there."

"Can we please just ignore that ever happened Stanley?" Ford is sporting a small embarrassed blush, but there's also fear in his eyes. He hopes Stan will just breeze by this incident like its nothing, but for once, he doesn't.

"Im sorry Ford but, I think I deserve atleast a small explanation. What happened out there? Was it something I did? Please, I need to know if I did something wrong."

"God Stan, is that really what your worried about? That you did something wrong? I can assure you it wasn't your fault, I—I just got overwhelmed is all, trust me, im fine."

Stan gives him a slightly raised eyebrow, but lets the issue drop with no further discussion. "So, what do yah want for dinner?"

The End


End file.
